HRCP blasts attack on Ahmadis in Lahore

Lahore, May 28: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned the militant attacks on the worship places of Ahmadi community in Lahore and called upon the government to take adequate measures to protect the minorities.

In a statement issued May 28, HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir said the commission had been warning the Punjab government about the threats being given to the Ahmadi community centre in Model Town, Lahore for more than a year. An HRCP delegation had held meetings with Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif to apprise him of the situation and had demanded enhanced security measures to protect the vulnerable minority and its worship places. HRCP is of the view that though the Punjab government apparently took some steps to bolster the security but they were not enough to face the well-coordinated and well-planned terrorist attack as witnessed on Friday. HRCP is concerned over the increasing sectarian dimension of the militancy and considers it a big security threat to the entire society. In carrying out such barbaric attacks, the militants have no such objective that could be acceptable to the civil society. HRCP urges on the government to provide foolproof security and protection to the Ahmadi community. The Commission also appeals to the sections of the civil society that have been sympathetic to the militants, for some inexplicable reasons, to raise their voice on this inhuman act and express their solidarity with the country’s vulnerable communities.